As reported by Spieleverlage e.V., a cooperation of 19 board game manufacturers within the German toy industry association, sales of board and card games in Germany have grown by 8 % in the first nine months of 2017 compared to the same period of 2016. Family games improved by 10 %, children's games by 5 %, card games by 4.5 %. Strategy games achieved a particularly significant increase by 19 %. According to the association, the sustained growth trend can be explained - beside other things - by the popularity of game nights among teenagers and university students coming into contact with this hobby more frequently, playing party, crime, logic and strategy games. The branch representatives view the communicative togetherness with friends as an advantage irreplaceable by apps and computer games. It remains to be seen in the full year if the German game industry can replicate its success of 2015 and 2016 when sales had risen by a tenth twice in a row.